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Equities

Global equities got a lift after results from AI heavyweight Nvidia Corp. yesterday overshot expectations, boosting tech stocks. But the prospect that interest rates could stay higher for longer than many had expected tempered some investor optimism.

Most North American stock markets opened higher following yesterday’s losses. At the bell, the Nasdaq Composite index was up 0.8 per cent at 16,936.85 and the S&P 500 advanced 0.3 per cent to 5,324.70. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.28 per cent to 39,557.99.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.23 per cent to 22,398.88.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Toronto-Dominion Bank, the first of Canada’s big six banks to report second-quarter results.

TD’s second-quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates on a boost in capital markets even as profit fell 22 per cent from the same quarter last year, weighed down by costs related to the U.S. investigation into the lender’s anti-money laundering practices.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Dollar Tree Inc., Intuit Inc. and Ralph Lauren Corp.

“Nvidia had great figures, but really it is a very narrow market now and you are exposed to one sector, and we see from history that being exposed just to one sector is a big risk,” said Pascal Koeppel, chief investment officer of Vontobel Swiss Financial Advisors. Nvidia shares rose nearly 7 per cent in premarket trading.

In U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes released yesterday, officials concluded that it would take longer than they previously thought for inflation to cool enough to justify reducing their key interest rate, now at a 23-year high.

Thursday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.02 per cent following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s snap election call yesterday. Germany’s DAX advanced 0.25 per cent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.34 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.26 per cent higher at 39,103.22, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.7 per cent to 18,868.71.

Commodities

Oil prices rose, with Brent crude futures up 0.8 per cent to US$82.53 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures were up 0.7 per cent at US$78.14. Both benchmarks fell more than 1 per cent yesterday in a third straight day of losses.

In other commodities, gold fell 0.4 per cent to US$2,368 an ounce, but was still within sight of Monday’s record high of US$2,449.89.

Currencies and bonds

The Canadian dollar strengthened against the greenback, trading at 73.18 US cents.

The day range on the loonie was 73 US cents to 73.22 US cents in the early premarket period. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.16 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, held at 104.7 after gaining 0.28 per cent yesterday.

The euro was flat at US$1.0824, having fallen 0.3 per cent the day before. Britain’s pound was largely unmoved by the snap election call, sitting at US$1.2726.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was flat at 4.428 per cent.

Other corporate news

Ralph Lauren has forecast annual revenue growth below market expectations and named insider Justin Picicci as its chief financial officer, effective immediately.

China’s Lenovo Group has reported a 9-per-cent rise in fourth-quarter revenue to $13.8-billion, as the world’s largest PC maker exits a demand slump following the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue beat analysts’ estimates of $13-billion, according to LSEG data.

Economic news

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s new housing price index for April. Estimate is a decline of 0.2 per cent from April and down 0.2 per cent year-over-year.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of May 18. Claims dropped 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000, compared with economists’ estimates of 220,000.

(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P Global PMIs for May.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. new home sales for April. Consensus is an annualized rate decline of 2.6 per cent.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press

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